TRANMERE chase a victory over Sheffield Wednesday tonight that will take them above the Owls in the League One table and confound the expectations of the pre-season oddsmakers.

Wednesday were among the promotion favourites last summer after dropping down from the Championship but the campaign so far is delivering only under achievement.

The failure to maintain a place in the play-off frame cost Alan Irvine his job as manager this month when he was replaced by another former Everton player, Gary Megson, in the job last week.

Megson began with a 2-1 defeat at Rochdale last weekend and the Owls travel to Prenton Park on the back of a sequence of one win from the last seven games.

Rovers, 3-1 winners at Plymouth last Saturday, are unbeaten in four games, their best run of the season. Manager Les Parry, with his sights set on a place in the top half of the table, understands the psychological value of leapfrogging Wednesday.

Parry said: “If someone had said at the beginning of the season that in February we would have the chance to go ahead of Sheffield Wednesday by beating them, then most people would have said we would be right up there near the top.

“The manager leaving last week reflects the fact that Wednesday’s results have not gone as well as they hoped. They are a massive club. They probably have more history than any other club in division. Now they have a new manager in Gary Megson.

“No one wants to be playing teams who have just got a new manager. Rochdale did well against them last Saturday and that will have hurt Gary. He will be looking for a response and we will need to be at our best.”

Megson has a long track record in management and a reputation for straight talking. He expects a fighting performance from the Owls at Prenton Park. Megson said: “Tranmere will be right up for it because they’re playing Sheffield Wednesday.

“It’s taking us to get really upset before we get the level of performance we want. It’s just not acceptable. This is Sheffield Wednesday. It means a lot to me, Alan Irvine is a friend of mine. He’s lost his job; if (the performance at Rochdale) is what’s been happening, it didn’t do him any favours.

“We have got to have a lot more than that.”

Parry added: “I’ve had a few arguments with Gary over the years but we get along very well. He is very passionate. He loves his football and that comes over. Sometimes he looks a little bit too enthusiastic but I’m sure he would not apologise for that.”

The change of manager at Hillsborough caused Tranmere to put aside most of their scouting reports on Irvine’s team and they were unable to draw a lot of conclusions from the changes Megson made at Rochdale.

Parry said: “Wednesday played with three at the back for the first 25 minutes, then changed it. Then they changed the personnel at half-time. So although we watched them, we don’t have a clue about what Gary’s thinking is.

“When a new manager comes in he generally makes a lot of changes while he assesses players. For us it will be a case of seeing who is on their team sheet at 6.45pm then see how they line up at 7.45pm.”

Parry meanwhile is unlikely to make significant changes to the Tranmere starting line-up that delivered a fourth away win of the season at Home Park.

Teenage front man Dale Jennings, sidelined last weekend with a groin strain, is unlikely to be included in the selection frame although Parry is hopeful he will be available for the trip to Peterborough next Saturday.